Test: Yongnuo YN43 Camera

Test: Yongnuo YN43 Camera

An impressive product made by Yongnuo. A 4/3 mirrorless camera for smartphone… This is getting interesting.

I first thought it was a new category of products. In fact these smartlenses or smartphone clip-on camera were born in 2014.

Yongnuo since announced a new similar product; with a build-in Android device: the YN450. Will it replace the YN43 or will it be sold next to it? we should know more in a couple of weeks.

EDIT (November 11, 2018):

There were several similar products that went out on that time, among the following:

The idea is good actually, using a “big” camera sensor, a nice lens and giving the rest to the smartphone. Nowadays smartphones are so powerful that we can do almost everything. Their picture quality is great (look at the iPhone 8 or the Google Pixel 2) but we’re missing two things: a zoom lens and a bigger sensor.

These camera modules / smartlenses might fill a gap.

What’s inside this YN43 camera?

With a 16Mpx Micro Four Thirds (M4/3) sensor, a Canon EF mount so you can put a lot of different lenses, a light weight (230g) and a dedicated application for both iPhone and Android devices, we should have an interesting device.

Connect the YN43 to your smartphone through the app (which look a lot like the Sony PlayMemories Mobile application), put a lens on the front and you’re good to go.

Recording of pictures and videos are made on a TF card (Micro SDHC?) up to 64GB. You can then transfer the content to your computer or even to your smartphone via WiFi.

The battery of the Yongnuo YN-43 is a FB-LP-E8(V) (1180mAh and should last for 2 hours of continuous usage.

You can see on the picture below the battery slot on the back, and a HDMI, micro USB and TF Card slots on the side of the YN43.

Specification of the YN43

  • Product name:  YN43 Wifi Camera
  • Sensor: Panasonic CMOS M4/3
  • Processor: Ambarella
  • Shutter speed: 1/8000s – 4s
  • ISO: 100 – 25600
  • Network: WiFi 802.11b/g/n
  • Resolution: 16Mpx (4608×3456) max
  • Picture format: JPEG
  • Video: 1920×1080 @30fps – 1280×720 @60fps
  • Video format: MP4
  • Save: TF T-Flash cards (max 64GB)
  • Battery: Li-ion 7.2V – 1180mAh
  • Dimension: 85x76x76mm
  • weight: 230g (0.5 lb)

You can download the latest Yongnuo YN43 app directly from the apps page.

Conclusion

So, the question is: what for? I am excited and scared at the same time. This Yongnuo YN-43 could potentially work, if it come at a good price and deliver nice results … or … maybe it’s too late. I can’t wait to grab a piece and do some testing.

How much does this YN43 cost? I don’t have the price yet, but I think a reasonable price would be between $200 and $300. Wait and see.

Useful info:

For more information, I invite you to read Amazon comments.
That’s really useful most of the time before making a purchase decision.
If you want to buy this product, thanks for using the following affiliate link, it will help me grow this blog.

5 thoughts on “Test: Yongnuo YN43 Camera

    1. Yes, actually it did die !
      I heard they launched a new version (YN450M) but only in China and I think it won’t work very well.

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